1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to an improved kind of top-loading clothes washing machine, preferably of the type intended for use in households, provided with a particular arrangement aimed at locking the top lid of the machine in its opened, i.e. raised state.
2. Description of Related Art
Largely known in the art are currently top-loading clothes washing machines that comprise a horizontally lying cover lid on top, which is adapted to by raised from the front side through a rotary motion about proper hinging pins provided in the rear upper portion of the machine. By lifting this cover lid, access is gained into a hopper, or funnel-like loading configuration, which opens into an aperture on top of the washing tub, or outer drum, which in turn opens onto the cylindrical side wall of the rotating drum; on a portion of said cylindrical wall of the rotating drum there is provided the loading aperture, or port, providing access into the rotating drum, through which the clothes to be washed are introduced in the drum.
This access port is of course adapted to be closed by means of one or two lids (internal flaps), so as to enable the perfectly cylindrical, continuous shape of the side wall of the drum to be restored, in view of preventing the washload from being projected out of the drum as this starts rotating.
These machines are provided with special safety devices concerning the operation thereof, which are practically activated by the position of the top or cover lid of the machine.
Quite well known in the art are in particular the devices (lid or door interlock devices), along with the related operating mode, which prevent the top cover lid from being capable of being opened as the washload holding drum is rotating, especially during the spin-extraction high-speed rotating phases thereof, as this is for example illustrated in the patent applications Nos. JP 2001089366, JP 2000313615 and JP 2000000340528.
Known from the disclosures in further patent documents, eg. JP 2003148474, are other means adapted to enable said safety means, i.e. lid interlock devices, to be automatically released upon completion of the washing cycle, when the drum has stopped rotating.
None of these patents, however, discloses top-loading clothes washing machines that are equipped with safety means adapted to prevent the machine from being able to operate when the top lid thereof, i.e. the one that provides access into the hopper, or loading funnel, is closed, i.e. let down into closed position without first having the internal flaps closing the loading port in the side wall of the rotating drum duly closed.
Now, this is a quite possible and frequent occurrence, as a vast experience made in the field actually tells, in particular when these machines are used by people who are not very familiar therewith or simply careless.
When such occurrence takes place, i.e. when the top lid is closed without having first closed the internal flaps of the drum, and the machine is started operating, this unavoidably causes the well known accident to take place, in which a still open internal flap comes into collision with the edge of said aperture of the washing tub, and this leads to either one of two serious consequences, of which:                the most serious one is certainly represented by both the rotating drum and the tub suffering damages requiring total repair, which—owing to the overall costs thereof—turns generally out as being economically unworthy when compared with the cost of purchasing a new machine; and        the less serious one is represented by the drum getting locked, i.e. jammed, so that the driving belt of the drum starts slipping until it eventually breaks down, causing a failure that can be solely done away with by having the belt replaced by a repairman.        
Known from the disclosure in EP 1 298 242 A1 is a top-loading clothes washing machine that is provided with both a lid to close the loading port in the drum, and a lid to close the upper portion of the wash tub, which enables access to be gained to the loading port of the drum when it is rotated in an upward facing position, i.e. on top. This solution is certainly more effective in making it difficult for the top lid of the machine to be closed, i.e. let down, if the flap of the drum has been left open, owing to the fact that, if this flap remains in its opened position, the same is necessarily true also for the lid closing the aperture of the tub, and said circumstance is certainly more visible, i.e. more clearly and readily perceived. On the other hand, providing such lid to close the tub implies production costs and complications that are scarcely acceptable in a highly competitive industry as the electric home appliance one.